Family Christmas Parties

These first pictures are from the Dorsey Christmas Party. I think I'll spare you the details, and simply let you enjoy the pictures. I have been sick so I am satisfied simply to get these pictures posted!

These pictures are from the Lifferth Family christmas. I have to say for this one, I was very proud of Jordan, he did quite well with Santa. Check out his smile!

Alright, so I spent the time downloading this video because it's so cute. I think the Lifferth's get the 'real' Santa to come to their parties, he is great!

On to November!

It seems like lately 1 post a month is all I manage. But at least it's something, right? November was a really fun month! I have lots more pictures to post, so here goes!

This is Jordan's new winter coat. My sister, Natalie sent it because her boys had grown out of it. I think it is one of the cutest boy coats I have ever seen! It is slightly big on him, but he will have room to grow, so it is great.

I was at D.I. last month and happened to spot this toddler bed for only15 dollars! I actually already had a lightening mc queen sleeping bag and chair that matched, so even though I hadn't planned on getting him a toddler bed for a while yet, I decided to jump on this deal. And amazingly enough, he actually slept on it the first night we got it. I thought it would take a while for him to get used to it. Jordan is still a little confused, however, when we first got it, he kept pointing at the sticker and saying, "Truck, truck."

Ok, so I found this hat and neckband thingy at the dollar store and I thought it was hilarious!

Unfortunately the kitty didn't get the humor. I'm still gonna make him wear it on Christmas though! Haha.

On Thanksgiving morning I was peeling potatoes, and for some reason the process was fascinating to Jordan. He stood next to me the entire time, his eyes glued to the process, and he even cheered when I would finish with each potato.

Isn't his new sweater way cute? I got it at TJ Max for 13 dollars. I have shopped for myself there before, but for some reason I never thought to look for baby clothes there. Anyway, I am glad I did! Oh and also, let me take a moment to point out that I ended up giving him a hair cut on thanksgiving morning as well! I just hadn't had time to do it before that! So, what do ya think? It was a painful and stressful process, and it never turns out quite like I hope, but I'm learning.

This is Jordan with his Aunt Kathy. For some reason, it is a tradition for my family to color in coloring books on Thanksgiving, so here they are, keeping the tradition alive!

Black Friday was eventful. I actually got up this year and went out shopping at around 5 o'clock. This is the first time I have done that since I was like 20 I think. So yeah, I forgot what to expect. I went to walmart and basically only got 3 pairs of character pjs (3 dollars each!) and two storage tub containers (4 dollars each). Woohoo! Yeah baby, it was so worth it! lol. But anyway, we also went to the University Mall and got to watch Santa Claus arrive by helicopter! Jordan loved seeing the helicopter, but when it got close, the wind started to scare him a bit. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so no pictures of that one!

So yeah, that night we had dinner on our "nice dishes". And then put up our Christmas tree. I always like to get it up the day after Thanksgiving.

Jordan was amazed at the tree, especially when we turned on the lights. And remember a while back before his 2nd birthday I had been working on him blowing out his candles? Well, he started trying to blow out the lights on the tree! It was so cute. What a fun kid.

The kitty's favorite place to site now is under the tree. I am just hoping he won't be as bad as he was last year when he was just a baby kitty and kept knocking down the balls and chasing them everywhere, and also tearing down the ribbon. Which, coincidentally, if you will notice, there are not any balls or ribbon this year.

Well that's all for now folks, hope you're all having a great Christmas time!

October at a glance

Alright, I have been slacking on my blogging, so this is going to be a mega post. I had planned on doing a post for each event, but that didn't end up happening. So, I hope you enjoy!

About two weeks ago, we went to Cornbelly's with my sister, Pam and her fiance, Jake. We took a few engagement pictures of them, and they took a few family pictures of us. It was a good arrangement. And there were so many photo ops!

And they lived happily ever after...

Ok, so I know it's cheesy, but we couldn't resist!

Last tuesday we had our family night. (Gabe has school monday nights.) And I thought it would be fun to do a halloween themed dinner. So here's what I came up with.

BBQ'd batwings and exploding potato heads. And for desert, we had pumpkin empinadas, or if you prefer, pumpkin guts with ghost puke.

Jordan wasn't sure what to make of his pumpkin. He finally figured out, however that it was in fact a soccer ball, not a silly pumpkin. Who knew?

After we put Jordan to bed (I was nervous thinking about trying to carve pumpkins with a curious toddler roaming around) , Gabe and I carved the pumpkins while we watched "Hocus Pocus". When we were finished, we baked the seeds.

Sometime last week, I think it was Tuesday, the same day we did this Halloween night, we also had our first snow! When we first walked out, Jordan took a few steps onto the porch and then turned and went straight back inside. Apparently, snow is cold!

And now, on to Halloween night!

Gabe and I had the honor of spending Halloween with the Jedi Master, Yoda, who is not at all taller in person.

I have to take a moment to mention, that this is the first costume I have ever sewn for Jordan. And I had to make up my own pattern. It actually turned out pretty cute, though it was a pain to make! I had the hardest time with the hood, because Jordan did NOT want to let me try it on him at all. By some miracle I managed to put the ears in the right place.

After inspecting the pumpkins, Yoda, Gabe and I took a "land speeder" down to the church for the Trunk-Or-Treat.

Once we got there, Yoda was excited to see other kids dressed in fun outfits, and started running around with them. He was so excited that he also did quite a few really great dances. I may post a video of it some time.

We had an exciting ride back to our house. It seems another family had brought their "land speeder" so we were able to have a great race! Unfortunately I took videos, not a picture, or else I would have posted it. It was hilarious though. And very high speed.

After the trunk or treat, we took Yoda to visit his good friend, and cousin, Superman. Bet you didn't know they were related, did ya? Well they are both aliens after all.

After that visit, we took Yoda to see his grandparents in Provo. Yoda of course is a little too small to wear just a seat belt. So he agreed that for his own safety, he would ride in the car seat.

After coming home from my parent's house, Yoda was downright tuckered out.

He didn't even wake up as we carried him into the house, and placed him on the changing table. Such a sweet little Yoda.

The three happiest years of my life...

Yesterday, October 7th, Gabe and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary. In some ways it is hard to believe it has already been three years, but in other ways it seems like we've known each other much longer. Gabe and I are each other's absolute best friend. We have a lot of similar interests, and view a lot of issues in the same way. It is so nice to have someone who I can just sit and talk to for hours. Even after 3 years of marriage, we are not at all sick of each other.

It has been a wonderful 3 years. We have been through a lot together already. Gabe is a very wonderful, supportive, and loving husband who has stood by me with all of my medical issues and also through our first pregnancy. He helped me through my first labor, holding my hand, and counting during the contractions, coaching me through, and then watched as our first baby was born by c-section, and managed to keep his face calm and cheerful, smiling and speaking words of comfort to me throughout the entire procedure. (And he still finds me attractive after having seen my actual guts!)

Gabe has always worked very hard to provide for our family, and during this last year he went back to school, and is now working full time while he goes to school part time. He is doing this so that I can be at home with Jordan. This is something that is important to him. He wants our children to be able to grow up with a mother who is at home with them. I am so grateful that he is willing to work so hard for our family.

I love that my husband's hands are strong and somewhat calloused, and often times smudged with grease or glue. I love that he is able to fix our car, our plumbing, our AC etc etc etc! I love that he can literally pick up a loveseat, and move it in and out of a truck without anyone's help. I love that he is a kid at heart. I love to watch him play with our son, and know that he is someone our son can look up to. I love the way his eyes light up when he is talking about anything with an engine. I love that he can look so handsome to me, whether it's been a while since he's shaved or not. I love that he can decide to take up biking one month, and then the next month ride 100 miles just to be my hero.

The day I married you was the happiest day of my life. Thankyou so much for giving me three wonderful years already, and many more to come! I love you sweetheart!